


Enterprise and Crew Teach GRE Vocabulary

by Catspaw_Press



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, GRE Vocab
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-27
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-10 05:31:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1155683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catspaw_Press/pseuds/Catspaw_Press
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adroit (adj.) - clever or skillful in using the hands or mind</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Abate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abate – (v.) To lesson in intensity or degree

A pale green plastic tray of lack-luster replicated plomeek sat cooling in front of the Commander. He knew, of course, it was illogical to find Enterprise's version of the traditional Vulcan dish so…unappetizing.

In every way that mattered, it was exactly like his mother's, each cytoplast and polymer chain in exactly the right space for optimum nutrition and flavor. He'd programmed the dish himself, down to the teaspoon of terran nutmeg and the cellulose concentration of an in-season plomeek shoot.

But it was never quite right. He'd spent hours finessing the recipe and he still couldn't get palatable cup of soup. Perhaps if he increased the thickness of the cell wall or added more cream? He woke up each morning looking forward to the results of his latest revisions, only to be disappointed each time.

One good cup of plomeek soup, it seemed like a simple enough desire. He kept waiting for the craving to abate, when suddenly he realized it never would


	2. Aberrant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aberrant - (adj.) deviating from the norm

Ensign Kittle lingered awkwardly outside Botany Lab 7, standard issue black pad held in both hands. There was nothing standard, however, in the readings the pad contained. At least in Kittle's opinion, not that his opinion seemed to count for much on this star ship. 

Howard Kittle had graduated the academy fifth in his class, first in the science officer track. He held degrees in astrophysics and xenobiology. His senior thesis on the quantum nature of life and sentience was published in  _Monthly Notices of the Federation Astronomical Society._ Bright, his professors had called him. He'd taken his first steps on the Enterprise excited and full of pride.

He quickly learned his place. Everyone on the Enterprise was "bright," an entire ship full of only the best of the best. It was enough to shake anyone's confidence.

Still, there was something wrong, or at least not right, with data in his hands. To everyone in Star Lab 4, The nebula they'd cataloging for the last several days was well within normal parameters. Everyone, that is, except Mr. Kittle. 

The nebula's had an wave pattern that didn't make any sense. Every fourth oscillation the regular period would be interrupted by what Kittle's senior officer deemed sensor noise. He'd re-calibrated the sensors three times and still kept getting these aberrant readings. It almost looked like...communication.

The laboratory doors opened suddenly, Commander Spock walking quickly to report for alpha shift. 

"Excuse me, Commander. I - uh- I noticed this wave thing...I mean - I think you need to see this, sir."


	3. Abjure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abjure - (v.) To renounce or reject solemnly; To recant, to avoid

James Tiberius Kirk loved space, everything to do with space. The heat, the silence, the taste of recirculated air. Most of all, the stark and endless possibilities contained in every single parsec of this wondrous play ground. He, however, hated the squiggles it produced with a passion. That’s what he had a science officer for, so that he would never have to lay eyes on another data imbued squiggle ever again.

His apparent loathing never seemed to stop his first officer from putting data laden pads in his hands. Like he was doing - right now. Kirk glared down at the spectrograph, involuntarily flashing back to Phys 4001: A Quantitative and Analytical Introduction to the Universe.

He’d taken the lecture and its’ accompanying laboratory-because there was always an accompanying lab-his first semester at the academy. It was a required course for all command track cadets, the higher-ups believing the comprehensive overview would teach these future pilots and captains to handle and interpret massive amounts of data. It was an excellent exercise, really. As captain of the Enterprise, he was bombarded constantly with warp efficiency readings, Klingon intelligence reports, the number of crew members that had nightmares each night, even the concentration of oxygen in the crew’s drinking water, down to the parts per million.

None of this turned memorizing the GCMS and NMR readings of Polaris IV’s atmosphere into a fond memory. He’d aced the class, officially and permanently abjuring from all types of spectroscopy and their damn squiggles henceforth-or so he’d thought.

"What am I lookin’ for here, Spock?" He asked, trying, and failing, to keep from rolling his eyes.


	4. Abrogate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abrogate - (v.) To abolish or annul by authority

"You should have seen, doctor! Saunders - engineering Saunders, not navigation Saunders - charged right at me, thinking he’d force his way past. Who-ho, was he wrong, I stood my ground Tolkien-style. We both ended falling off the ramp…well I guess you know the rest." The young Denobulan lieutenant gave Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy the blow-by-blow as the bone regenerator repaired his shattered elbow.

 

Parrises squares - or as Leonard liked to call it: idiots smashing into one another - was a time honored Starfleet tradition. Today marked the Enterprise’s first ever ship-wide tournament. If it was up to him - and it should be, he was the damn chief medical officer, for God’s sake - he’d abrogate the entire tournament and ban the game from every campus, space station, and starship in the quadrant. 

 

Unfortunately, the captain (king of said idiots) thought the tournament was a stellar idea. McCoy’d seen four broken wrists already. 

 

_Speak of the devil_ , thought McCoy as Kirk and Spock walked into the med bay. “What can I do for you, your Highness?”


	5. Abscission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abscission - (n.) Act of cutting off or removing; can also mean the actual cut itself

Abscission - (n.) Act of cutting off or removing; can also mean the actual cut itself

Lieutenant Uhura examined her abscission, carefully checking for impurities that would further muck up the delicate subspace equipment. She was in the process of re-wiring the bridge’s comm station for the second time that week, her entire torso submerged in the fickle equipment.  
  
Nebulae were hell on the comm station’s finespun silicon matrices and tetryon sensors. The space around the Enterprise was teeming with frantic, atomized metals and high frequency radiation. An unfortunate side effect of boldly going where no man has gone before.  
  
Uhura’s comm badge chirped, “Kirk to bridge. Uhura, we need you in Med Bay 6.”

 

"On my way, Captain." Responded Uhura, wriggling to reach her badge in the tight space.

 

_What could they possibly need me for in the med bay?_ She’d assigned Ensign Deshpande to fix that comm unit yesterday, it couldn’t possibly need maintenance again. She walked down the corridor, simultaneously identifying possible problems with med bay’s subspace unit and writing a research proposal to improve the system’s utility in nebulae and ion storms.


	6. Abstain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abstain - (v.) to refrain from an activity

The doors to Med Bay 6 opened to reveal Captain Kirk, Doctor McCoy, and Commander Spock engaged in a raucous debate about, of all things, the universal translator.

"Even if we can reprogram the thing, I’m a doctor, not a diplomat. We don’t know if this nebula alien will even recognize us as lifeforms. What happens to everyone on this ship when it starts irradiating us with its curiosity?"

"Calm down, Bones. I’m sure - Ah, Uhura. Just in time. Spock says you have experience programming new languages into the universal translator."

Nyota carefully kept her eyes from flashing to Spock, images of tension ridden lab hours and torrid calculations flickering across her eyes. “That’s correct, Captain,” she replied, professionally abstaining from further explanation.


	7. Abscond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abscond - (v) to go away or escape from a place secretly.

Nyota had expected falling in love to feel - well, like falling. She’d never expected it to feel like curiosity.

"Do you remember when we were little, Nini, and we used to jump and roll down hills? That’s exactly what it feels like when I’m with Imar." Aziza had told her, flopping dramatically onto Nyota’s bed, the smell of wet sand drifting in from the recently (and furtively) opened window.

For Nyota it had started with a question, her steady hand raised in defiance of the bell. “If you would like to discuss this further, Cadet, you may see me during my office hours. Class dismissed.” With that, Commander Spock had turned his back to the stream of cadets moving toward the door.

She began making regular appearances during his office hours. Her mind continually mapping and rewiring comm systems. How did the arrangement  
of tertryon sensors effect signal range? What would happen if they were arranged asymmetrically? She’d read journal articles during rec hours and wonder what he would think about them.

Gradually the questions became less innocuous. How did he like San Francisco? What part of Vulcan was he from? Was his skin as smooth and warm as it looked?

She knew it had been a mistake to accept the position as his TA as soon as the words left her mouth, the pull of curiosity overwhelming her better judgement. She wanted more than anything to learn the things he could show her. Her first project was programming Ferengi into Spock’s redesigned universal translator. Days of typing pluperfect verbs and translating synonyms for profit, followed by hours of working with Spock in the hardware lab while the code compiled.

Answers began to replace questions. Until one day, Spock and Nyota once again found themselves sitting across from each other, completed circuitry waiting patiently on the table while the infinitives and prepositions of a sentient nebula compiled in a lab nearby. Spock’s hand brushed against hers and they rose in unison. They absconded to the privacy of Spock’s quarters, hands and limbs full of ardent nostalgia.

Kirk and Bones were still arguing in Med Bay 6 and no one would notice their absence. They wouldn’t be expected for a few more hours.  
After-all, the code was compiling.


	8. Accolade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Accolade - (n.) an award or privilege granted as a special honor or as an acknowledgment of merit.

Imperial Commander Thelev P'Trell thought of himself as a humble man. If he, perhaps, had nicer things than some (most) then it was no more or less than what he deserved. A respected and rather prominent, if he said so himself (and he always did), Andorian diplomat, he had the honor of consulting with many wise (stupid) and powerful (rich) leaders. And if they insisted on giving him honors, accolades, or the occasional more substantial sign of appreciation, who was he to say otherwise.  
  
He was enjoying one of those more substantial acknowledgments of merit when the comm unit in his quarters began to chirp.  Lifting his head from the plump - shoulder - of his latest companion, Commander P'Trell stumbled listlessly over to the inane device, if only to make it stop squawking. 

 

Starfleet.  _Well what have we here._  Weighing the merits of more sleep against the possibility of more income, Thelev cast a longing glance back at the exceedingly fetching Orion slave girl resting indolently on the rented finery. If needs must. 

 

"Yes, thank you--I get it Bones. I'm calling him right now. That's  _Captain_  Ass to you-- Ah, Hello Commander P'Trell. I hope I'm not catching you at a bad time."


	9. Accretion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Accretion – (n.) growth, increase by successive addition, building up

Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, Scotty for short, stood in passive, but passionate, frustration as his second best lieutenant gave his report.

“There’s been puzzling increase in the-warpy things. Not a huge deal, until it started to drift toward the high end of the containment field’s…containyness, if that makes sense, sir.”

It didn’t, or at least not yet. Scotty had learned from experience that pressuring Barclay toward coherence would only render him even more incomprehensible.

Barclay was not good with words. Like many of Scotty’s chosen crew, he preferred the soothing regularity of numbers and the solid reassurance of a wrench in his hand. That’s not to say Barclay had no imagination or didn’t appreciate a fine curve now and then, it just…yes well, anyway.  Give the man enough time to string together a sentence and he would dazzle you with the sheer unbridled power of his unusual brand of creativity.

If nothing else, Scotty’s time marooned on Delta Vega had taught him how to appreciate crazy ideas.  Can’t beam onto a ship moving at warp? Think again. Can’t put a constitution class star ship on the bottom of the ocean? Watch Mr. Scott and his merry band prove you wrong.

If it could be dreamt, it could be done. All you needed were a pair of good strong hands and a sharp mind. Was it going to be easy? Never, but with good thinking and hard work it could always be done.

“I was talking with me mate Kittle in Astronomy the other day, an’ he showed me these readings, sir. I got ‘em here if you want to see.” Explained Barclay, handing over a pad. “Didn’t think too much about them until I was sittin’ here on me shift watching the radiation from the warp engine climb higher and higher. The accretion matches the frequency and strength of the signal Kittle showed me. And now the containment field’s fair to burstin’. I already got me boys working on the increasing the field’s tolerance, but I if we can’t keep the radiation increasing it won’t matter for too much longer.”

Scotty looked up at that, perusal of the Barclay’s data abandoned.

Bloody Hell. 


	10. Acerbic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Acerbic – (adj.) having a sour or bitter taste or character

Kirk Stood in the shuttle bay awaiting the arrival of the Andorian diplomat Commander P'Trel, silently deciding if Bone's constant bitching could be construed as mutiny.

On one hand, McCoy had been right. There was no one on the ship qualified to negotiate with this life form if things went sour. On the other, it was his damn ship. He'd had extensive first contact training before the Enterprise had even left orbit on their five year mission. Granted, he didn't have a great track record, both the negotiations he'd lead, first against the renegade romulans and then Khan, had turned most of San Francisco into a rubble heap. 

_Whatever. If Bones can't---_ The thought was interrupted by the sharp  _swwweeerr_ of the shuttle bay door opening behind him _._

“You’re late, Commander.” Kirk announced as Spock joined the rest of the senior officers in the shuttle bay.

"My apologies, Captain." Spock replied as he moved to stand next to Kirk. "Lieutenant Uhura required my assistance in the communications lab."

_I'm sure,_ thought Kirk giving the Vulcan an incredulous look. 

Kirk returned his attention to the airlock, a soft beeping indicating that it had been properly re-oxygenated and pressurized. The thick metal doors swung open, the acerbic tang on shuttle fuel settling unpleasantly on the back of his palette. 

Plastering on his most charming smile, Kirk bowed his shoulders in the traditional andorian greeting, "Welcome aboard the Enterprise, Commander."


	11. Acumen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Acumen (n.) - keenness and depth of perception, discernment, or discrimination especially in practical matters

Scotty looked down at his hands, passively taking in the debate going on around him. Riddled with the remains of chemical burns and clumsy laser cutters, his hands were a point of pride. Each shiny white scar the price he had paid for the acumen that had earned his place aboard the Enterprise, love of his life.

Speaking of, the fickle wee beastie was currently giving his all kinds of hell. Scotty looked down at the data in his hand, unable to keep the lines of indignant disbelief off his face. 

Damn she-devil is flirting with the nebula.

"So, you're saying if we don't get the nebula to stop communicating with our warp core in the next two hours, we're all dead?" asked Kirk.

"Too put it delicately, Sir." Scotty answered. He eyed Dr. McCoy across the bridge's navigation console. They would in fact be incapacitated well before then, depending on how well the radiation could be contained. "My crew's doing the best they can to keep up with the changing parameters, but the modifications won't hold forever."

"Uhura, issue a ship-wide quarantine.We need to clear out the lower decks. Essential personel only below J Deck." Barked Kirk in his captain's voice, snapping up from the command chair. "Bones get a tirage ready for any crew showing signs of radiation sickness. 

"Spock, you're with Scotty. Make sure the containment field holds.

"Thelev, you have ten minutes for familiarize yourself with first contact procedures. Chekhov, open a channel."


	12. Adroit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adroit (adj.) - clever or skillful in using the hands or mind

AAHDX - 774 (or so the strange organisms encasing the gravimetric field displacement manifold called her, she wasn't over fond of the name) was only on her second life cycle. Still coalescing into her next form -- a red dwarf, perhaps, or even binary system -- she rested peacefully in the remains of her latest supernova. _No_ , she thought, _peaceful is not the right word_. Rather, she was passively resting in the cloud formed when she could no longer sustain the hydrostatic equilibrium needed to push against her own crushing gravity.

AAHDX 774 sighed, remembering her last life cycle as a hypergiant. It had been frenetic,violent existence. And when she'd spent her last silicon atom, it was almost a relief to let gravity take her and spread across her little corner of the cosmos. By the end, her belly had been so heavy with the weight of the nickel and iron she could no longer use to sustain fusion. By contrast, her new form left her light and sleek. She felt embraced by gravity rather than crushed by it. Light and still. So. Very. Still.

After such an energetic existence, it was unsettling in the extreme to feel the atoms and particles of her body slide past one another without malice or that brief, wondrous burst of light. By contrast, it felt as though the adroit protons and quarks that comprised her mass were languishing in a placid stupor.

She was ready for a change.

_Something with planets, perhaps?_ She quickly discarded the idea. She was too young for so much responsibility.

"What do you think, Prisoner?" She asked, addressing the gravimetric field. He responded in the usual manner, preening and stretching under her attentions. He never offered any useful response, but her sisters had grown so far away, it would be millenia before they responded with any advice.

She continued review her options, casting off each one in turn.

“Honestly, Prisoner, I wish I’d just collapsed into a black hole when I had the chance.”

“That seems a bit extreme.” He replied to her surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that took forever. Sorry


End file.
